Shoe.



G. H. RICKE.

SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. 1914.

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777/ %7?, as sea i? Irwezzar GEORGE E. RICKE, or CINCINNATI, 01110, ASSIGNOR. or ONE-HALF 'ro EDWARD OELKER, or CINCINNATI, OHIO.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

Application filed June 3, 1914. Serial No. 842,655.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, GEORGE I-I. RICKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Shoes, of which the following. is a specification.

My invention belongs to that class of shoes which are made with a flexible upper and from a sole made of harder and nonflexible material, said sole, however being rendered flexible, so as to yield to the foot in walking. I accomplish this by forming the sole of sections and placing a peculiar shaped joint between said sections. Shoes of this character made of a sole of one piece are cumbersome, heavy and inconvenient, rendering walking and the bending of the foot a hardship. My invention overcomes these difficulties. By wearing my shoe the wearer cango about his -workthe-same as if he were wearing a leather shoe, except that his feet will be kept dry andwarm, this being necessary, as the wearers of this class of shoes, usually work in damp, Wet, rough and cold places. By my unique and novel joint construction, the various parts all work in unison and relieve one another at proper time as the foot is bent or straightened.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this application; Figure (1) is a side elevation of the shoe provided with my unique joint, Fig. (2) is a plan or top View of the sole with the upper removed,

Fig. (3) is a section of thejoint taken at the line 33 of Fig. 2, and Fig, (4c) is a section taken at line 4-4 of Fig. 2, the sole partly broken away.

In the. present instance the sole is made of two wooden parts 1 and 2,.the part 1 forming the heel and arch section and the part 2 the toe section; around the outer upper edge of these parts, I form a groove 3, 45

onto and into which the edge of the upper 4 fits and is fastened and held by nails 5. To prevent the sole from splitting or cracking I employ dowell pins 6.

At their meeting edges or, ends the parts 1 and 2 are respectively convex and concave, the convex face 7 of part 1 fitting and working in the concave face 8 of part 2. The convex face 7 is approximately a true semicircle, but concave face 8 of part 2 is not perfect as I cut it away at point 9 (see par- In the meeting faces'7 and 8 of the sole parts or sections 1 and 2 I cut respectively slots 10 and 12 semi-annular or semi-circular in contour or shape; these slots do not extend to the outer edges of the sole parts so that strength will be insured at the joint and the rectangular shaped metal plate 13 which extends into these slots will not have play but be rigid, said plate being held in a fixed position by said screws or nails 14. This plate 13 holds the two parts 1 and 2 together at their meeting ends or faces and keeps them in proper alinement.

At a point near the lower party of the groove 3 in each of the meeting faces 7 and 8 I cut slots 16 into which I place a lower layer of thin leather l7 and on top of this layer place a layer of metal 18 and ontop of the sole parts at the joint I place or embed a piece of rubber or flexible material 19: It will be seen that the leather strip or layer 17 and rubber strip 19 extend across the entire width of the sole onto the-groove 3 and are nailed down with the upper 4 onto the wood sole parts 1 and 2, so as to make a non-leakable joint. The metal strip 18 is somewhat shorter than strips 18 and 19 but extends out far enough-to strengthen and steady the joint and prevent the leather at the joint from buckling, thus prolonging the life of the upper and keeping it from cracking at the joint.

At 15, at the juncture of the parts 1 and 2, the part 1, (at the point where slot 10 is present) is cut away its entire breadth, so that in walking or stooping the cut away part will, rock down to the metal plate 13 so that the parts will not bind or wedge and thus the parts at the joint are prevented from becoming distorted or dislocated, all the parts being kept in proper alinement and all strain being taken off the foot by providing a yielding and readily bendable joint. On the forward part 2, I place an anti-wearing strip 20 made of any suitable material to keep the sole from wearing. I may use any number of these strips. The sole is preferably made of wood but can be made of any other equivalent material. The various parts making up the joint may also be made of any other material than that herein described.

- ing abutting ends,

It will readily become apparent that the cut away portion of the convex part and the cut away edge of thejconcave part of the sole as above described prevent any binding of the parts, making it possible for the joint to open and close up and downas ren; dered necessary in the act of walking on account of the bending foot. By relieving this binding and strain I keep the parts from becoming dislocated and unduly wearing and tearing, keeping all the parts intact.

While I have described one specific form of my invention, it will readily become ap parent'that the same is capable of considerable modification and I wish to be understood as claiming that such modifications will fall within the scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and of my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:. 1. In a shoe of the character described, a sole, said sole comprising two sections havsaid abutting ends having a slot therein, a plate located in said slot, and means for securing said plate to said sections, one of said abutting ends being partly cut away and the other of said abutting'ends being cut away adjacent said plate in such manner as the sole.

2. In a shoe of the character described, a ,sole, said sole comprising a section having a concave end face and a section having a convex end face closely fitting said concave face except at the upper portions'of said faces, said concave and convex ends having a slot therein, a plate located in said slot, andmeans for securing said plate to said sections, said concave end being cut away at its upper portion and said convex end being cut away adjacent said plate in such manner as to facilitate bending of the sole.

3. In a shoe of the character described, a sole, said sole comprising a section having a concave end face and a section having a convex end face closely fitting said concave face except at the upper portions of said faces, said concave and convex ends having at the ball of the to facilitate bending of a slot therein, a plate located inlsaid slot,

- means for securing said plate to said sections, said concave end being cut away at its upper portion and said convex end he- 1ng cut away adjacent said plate in such manner as to facilitate bending of the sole, and a flexible material placed over the meetmg faces of the'sections at the top thereof,

4. In a shoe of the character described, a sole, said sole comprising a section having a concave end face and a section having a conv ex end face closely fitting said concave face except at the upper portions of said faces,

said concave andconvex ends having a slot t erein, a plate located in said slot, means for securing said plate to said sections, said concave end being cut away at its' upper portion and said convex end being cut away adjacent said plate in such manner as to facilitate bending of said sole, said concave and convex ends having a second slot therein above said plate, and a layer of leather and a1 layer of metal placed in said last named s ot.

5. In a shoe of the character described, a sole, said sole comprising asection having a concave end face and a section having a convex end face closely fitting said concave face except at the upper portions 'of said faces, said concave and convex ends having a slot therein, a plate located in said slot, means for securing ,said plate to said sections, said concave end being cut away at its upper portion and said convex end being cut away adjacent said plate in such manner as to facilitate bending of said sole, said concave and convex ends having a second slot therein above said plate, a layer of leather and a layer of metal placed in said last named slot, and a layer of flexible material placed over the upper edge of said faces on top of said sole sections.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. RICK Witnesses:

SAML C. Cox, W. S. PAXSON. 

